Abstract. The INCOSE Systems EngineeringHandbook is the official INCOSE reference document for understanding systems engineering (SE) methods and conducting SE activities. Over the years, the Handbook has evolved to accommodate advances in the SE discipline and now serves as the basis for the Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP) exam. Due to its evolution, the Handbook had become somewhat disjointed in its treatment and presentation of SE topics and was not aligned with the latest version of International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 15288:2008, Systems and Software Engineering. As a result, numerous inconsistencies were identified that could confuse practitioners and directly impact the probability of success in passing the CSEP exam. Further, INCOSE leadership had previously submitted v3.1 of the Handbook to ISO/IEC for consideration as a Technical Report, but was told that the Handbook would have to be updated to conform with the terminology and structure of new ISO/IEC15288:2008, Systems and software engineering, prior to being considered.The revised INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook v3.2 aligns with the structure and principles of ISO/IEC 15288:2008 and presents the generic SE life-cycle process steps in their entirety, without duplication or redundancy, in a single location within the text. As such, the revised Handbook v3.2 serves as a comprehensive instructional and reference manual for effectively understanding SE processes and conducting SE and better serves certification candidates preparing for the CSEP exam.

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The authors believe that better deployment of Systems Engineering (SE) would benefit the rail and transit sector. They have formed an INCOSE working group to develop guidelines which advance this objective, starting with the topic of requirements engineering.Although there is already sound guidance on requirements engineering, its influence within the sector has been limited. In hopes of changing this, the authors have created a short requirements guide, illustrated with practical examples and written in plain language. The authors' premise is that the benefits of increased accessibility outweigh any loss in comprehensiveness and precision.The guide is being produced following an iterative process involving peer review by INCOSE groups. The current working version is attached to this paper. The authors believe that following this guide would benefit rail and transit projects. The approach described may be of value to other SE practitioner trying to convince skeptics of the value of SE. 79 Close NextBackground: All of the authors work within the rail and transit sector. Although this sector practices some of the principles of Systems Engineering (SE), it has not embraced the SE approach in its entirety. The authors believe that a comprehensive and appropriate deployment of SE would bring the same benefits to their sector that it had done in others. They have joined the INCOSE Intelligent Transportation and Transit Systems Working Group (ITTSWG) because they wish to contribute to the group's objective to "promote the development and tailored application of SE best practices to ground transportation and transit systems, including public and private interests and seamless inter-modal interfaces." Within the ITTSWG the authors have formed a product development subgroup with a mission to, "deliver products to provide guidance to SE practitioners in Rail and Transit which, in conjunction with existing SE guidance, helps to adopt good practice in SE in their domain."The long-term objective is to produce comprehensive SE guidance. However due to the anticipated length of this effort the authors have set out to produce a series of short documents that will focus on key individual topics. Because the authors see requirements as a key aspect of SE, they have started with a document providing guidance on requirements engineering.Problem: There are plenty of sources of sound guidance on requirements engineering which are applicable to rail and transit projects. However, by striving to be all-encompassing, these comprehensive but lengthy guides may not be the best tool for the introduction of SE to the intended audience. Clearly the objective of "helping to adopt good practice in SE" is not likely to be furthered by writing more of the same; a different approach is required.The authors observe that most guidance on requirements engineering is written by practitioners for practitioners. Comprehensiveness is a virtue in this context. But requirements engineering practitioners are convinced of the value of requirements engineering...

This paper explores how systems engineering is being applied to meet the growing need for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). There are similarities between the approaches that civil engineers take to design highways and that systems engineers take to solve complex system development problems. The process of developing a highway design can be directly cor related to the system development life cycle used in systems engineering. The progression of highway development is demonstrated to be an evolution of technologies, inventions, organizational creations, and legislative acts that has supported the development of a national interstate transportation system in the United States. The ITS is a global phenomena and is being pursued in Europe, Australia, and Japan as well as the United States. Until now, highway development has been the domain of civil engineers concerned with highway structures, materials loading, traffic patterns, and supporting facilities. However, the growing need for ITS or intelligent-vehicle highway systems (IVHSs) requires that traditional civil engineering disciplines be integrated with computers, communications, and eventually fully automated vehicles. This paper's thesis suggests that the complex highway transportation of the 21st century can benefit from the collaboration of systems engineers and civil engineers.

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